Monthly Archives: August 2009

Brendan & Ashely: Married!

Brendan and Ashley were married on Saturday, August 22nd, and it was a most beautiful day for a wedding! Ashley had “put in a special request with God” as she said, for 78 degrees with a light breeze…and that’s almost exactly what it was! Their wedding took place at Toad Valley Golf Course in Pleasant Hill, Iowa.

Here are the other vendors that made the day so beautiful:

DJ: Chris Parmalee from Parm’s Porta Party 

Cake: Linda Rozendaal from Pella, IA

Flowers: HyVee Grocery

Hair: Ultra Salon in Altoona, IA

We began the day at Ultra Salon, which was a really neat, unique hair salon! There were bright colors all over the salon, and these cool mirrors on the pillars, which made for some fun shots!

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography
A sweet moment between Mom and Bride:
ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

Here is Ashley, showing off her beautiful make-up to her sister!

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

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ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

Ashley’s bouquet was absolutely gorgeous!!

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography
ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography
This is their “first look”! I love how all the bridesmaids and groomsmen are watching from behind!
ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

What a good lookin’ couple!

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course pleasant hill iowa, allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

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ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

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ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

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Just perfect weather for an outdoor wedding!

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I love what the light created in this spontaneous shot, right after the ceremony!

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

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ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

Brendan told me such a sweet story. The first time he went over to Ashley’s house while they were dating, her parents had music playing and were dancing together in the kitchen! Knowing that makes this photo so sweet:

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

ashley lastine and brendan tabor wedding toad valley golf course des moines, iowa by allison marie photography

Thank you, Ashley and Brendan for the treat of photographing your wedding!

show hide 3 comments

Allison George - September 15, 2009 - 7:43 am

These pictures turned out so wonderfully! Love your blog. It captures the neat person you are! It was so nice to meet you.

Lori Lastine - August 29, 2009 - 9:32 pm

Allison –

The photographs are gorgeous, you truly captured the spirit of this beautiful day! I can’t wait to see the rest!

Lori

[...] met Allison George when I photographed Ashley & Brendan’s wedding at the Toad Valley Golf Course in August, and it has been so fun these past few months to work with [...]

Hurry…only 4 spots left!!

If you are an aspiring photographer, or if you are already in business, but want to improve/enhance your photography & business skills, the MJ2Day is for YOU!  I attended this workshop in May, and it was the most valuable thing I could have done as I began my business. Check out Melissa Jill’s blog, where you will see me on her promo video!  This workshop will take place October 26 &27th at Melissa Jill’s place in Pheonix, Arizona. It will be two intense days, packed full of shooting techniques, marketing ideas, tips on vendor relations, client consultations, developing a unique brand, website critiques, lots of laughter, and many new friends! If this sounds like a fit for you, send me an email and I can tell you more about it and answer any questions you may have. You can also read my post about it on my old blog (when my business was totally different, and had a different name!).   Here is  a photo from our group in May. Melissa Jill is on the bottom right:

mj2day

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[...] 3. In May, I attended the Melissa Jill 2-day workshop in Phoenix.  I’ve written about this workshop a few times, so if you’d like to read more about it, you can do so  here and here. [...]

Albums, Albums, Albums!

As I promised yesterday, I am posting some photos of the albums that arrived yesterday. I am thrilled with how my 11×14 album turned out! Check it out!

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This is a 34-page, 11×14 Flushmount Album with a metal cameo on the front. These albums have a lifetime guarantee – they will last forever!! The 2-page spreads could have anywhere between one and 15 photos, so the design possibilites are endless!

Here are some photos of the classy 5×4 Purse Album I offer. It’s  a perfect album to throw in your purse so you can show off your photos at any time!

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In each of my wedding collections, I include a proofbook of all photos from the day. Here is what a proofbook looks like (note that this is a senior proofbook, and a wedding one will be a lot thicker because it will have a few hundred more photos!):

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And lastly, here are all three albums together, so you can see the differences in sizes:

allison-marie-photography-des-moines-iowa-wedding-senior-photographer-wedding-albums5

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Jalene - September 14, 2009 - 9:37 pm

The albums look fantastic (your pictures really highlight their super fun and durable qualities!) I cannot wait to see ours soon!

[...] love” blog series 90. Become a PPA member 91. Create educational tip sheets for clients 92. Purchase sample albums 93. Create custom photoshop actions 94. Learn how to create fomatted emails 95. Find a Spiritual [...]

[...] Album! It’s bound with beautiful, classy leather and has thick flushmount pages, just like my large wedding albums. It’s a 4 inch square, and perfect to toss in a purse to show off to friends and family! Here [...]